About
The Centre for Digital Humanities, Cultures and Media brings together staff, students, and external partners working at the intersection of the humanities, social sciences, and technology.
With one of the largest concentrations of humanities scholars in the UK, a long tradition of innovation, and an outstanding pool of computational expertise, The University of Manchester is harnessing cutting-edge digital methods and technology to address new research challenges across the humanities and social sciences.
Our research has particular strengths in spatial humanities, digital media, humanities data visualisation, gender and sexuality, critical algorithm studies, platform studies, digital visual culture and art, and heritage digitisation.
Our undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Digital Media, Culture and Society offer interdisciplinary study in the critique and use of digital media and technology with a particular focus on their cultural and societal implications.
Optional course units and a Minor in Digital Humanities allow undergraduate students in other subjects to lead their subjects in new directions and participate in the key debates of our time.
Digital Humanities, Cultures and Media supports researchers in a variety of ways, including developing digital projects, computational skills training, grant applications and technical review, building collaborations with other researchers and units, and working to upgrade our strategic engagement with digital technologies across all stages of research.
We are building capacity across all Schools of the Faculty of Humanities and actively engage with early and mid-career researchers, as well as established academics.
We also aim to develop the next generation of researchers, supporting PhD students to skill up in digital humanities through methods training sessions, sponsored internal and external placements, and external engagement with partners from the creative and technology sectors.
We support researchers’ training needs by offering our own training courses and workshops, and promote peer-learning and knowledge sharing.
Our seminars and events are designed to be accessible to researchers from any specialism, and provide introductions to key themes and applications across digital humanities, cultures and media.
In partnership with the School of Computer Science, we also support hackathons and other informal coding events.
Our events are opportunities for individuals to expand their networks and connect with other researchers and potential internal and external partners.
We also provide more targeted support helping to develop research proposals and supporting experimental work.
Our regular mailouts highlight relevant research events and funding opportunities.
We help coordinate technical reviews of Faculty of Humanities research projects, and can offer statements of support for new initiatives.
We also offer a framework for impact and public engagement through our network, programme of events and communication activities.
The Centre has been able to offer summer research opportunities to our students to support research projects in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures. So far, the research internships were funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the N8 Centre of Excellence in Computationally Intensive Research (CIR). We hope to offer similar opportunities in the future.
Here is what our interns said:
"Over the course of three months, I worked on impactful projects that deepened my technical expertise and expanded my understanding of real-world applications in data science and visualization. One of my key achievements was developing an interactive mapping platform that integrates real-time satellite imagery and live weather data with historical climate trends, demonstrating its potential for environmental and climate research.
I also developed a system for analyzing African social science publications, identifying themes such as crisis and inequality while visualizing patterns across time and location. Additionally, I contributed to the EU-funded REDACT project, leveraging natural language processing to analyze social media conspiracy theories and automate data extraction, significantly improving efficiency and uncovering valuable insights.
This internship was instrumental in honing my skills in programming, data visualization, and NLP while boosting my confidence in presenting complex ideas. It has not only enhanced my problem-solving abilities but also positioned me to tackle interdisciplinary challenges in both academic and professional settings. The experience has solidified my interest in pursuing data-driven research and opened up exciting prospects for my future career."
- Aadityaa Mehrotra, BSc Computer Science
“The internship was transformative, providing me with hands-on experience across various fields and enhancing my technical skills and expertise. I utilised a wide range of libraries and languages to process and visualise socio-economic datasets. This experience not only honed my technical capabilities but also deepened my understanding of economic trends and their historical context.
In the realm of natural language processing (NLP), I contributed to an EU-funded project called REDACT, which analyzed social media posts to uncover insights into public sentiment and discourse. The skills I developed in this area were further applied to another international project focused on African social science, where I analyzed textual data to support research objectives. I also I utilised a wide range of Python libraries, such as Pandas, Matplotlib, and Seaborn, to process and visualise historical datasets to do with trade from the UK in the 1700s.
My internship provided me with the chance to expand my expertise in web development, where I worked on an interactive mapping platform that integrated historical data, weather data, and real-time satellite imagery. This project was particularly challenging and rewarding, as it required a comprehensive understanding of JavaScript and web development frameworks, which I had not had experience in until starting the internship. Despite lacking expertise in such areas, my supervisor was patient with me and allowed me to learn on the job.
Additionally, collaborating with researchers and professionals from various disciplines enriched my experience and provided valuable insights into interdisciplinary research practices. The internship not only enhanced my technical skills but also significantly improved my employability prospects. I developed strong problem-solving abilities, learned how to effectively communicate complex data insights, and became adept at managing multiple projects simultaneously.”
- James Chattock, BA Chinese Language and Business & Management
The University of Manchester's importance to the history of computing cannot be overstated.
Alan Turing joined the Computing Machine Laboratory at the University in 1948, and remained here until his death in 1954, while the Department of Computer Science was founded in 1964, one of the first in the country.
It was also at Manchester where the world’s first stored-program computer, nicknamed ‘Baby’, was created in 1948.
The University hosts the History of Computing Collection (formerly the UK National Archive for the History of Computing (NAHC)), part of our Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine.
The collection contains the records of the history of computer science at the University, as well as those of national computing bodies and commercial organisations.
Our Centre builds on this remarkable cultural and technological heritage in our innovative collaborations between the computational sciences, humanities and social sciences.